THE LONDON GROUP AT ST IVES Press Release The London Group is heading west to the historic and contemporary art colony of St Ives, , to stage an exhibition of its members’ work at the Penwith Gallery, St Ives, home of the Penwith Society of Artists. Both groups are recognised as two of the UK’s most prestigious and longest-established artists’ collectives and have collaborated with two major exhibitions in London and St Ives, Cornwall.

One of the London Group’s aims is to ‘advance public awareness of contemporary visual art’ - an objective it constantly achieves with regular shows in London, throughout the UK and the World.

This unique alliance culminates during the St Ives September Festival, with The London Group at St Ives at the Penwith Gallery and a concurrent selling exhibition of notable past members and associates of The London Group at the Belgrave St Ives Gallery called The London Group - the St Ives Connection.

These exhibitions will provide opportunities to witness the diverse energies of the current LG members within an iconic exhibition space and appreciate the Group’s historic membership, its significant contribution to British Art along with associations with Cornish artistic communities during the Group’s 115 year history.

Susan Haire, current London Group President comments, “We are full of anticipation for our exhibition in the beautiful Penwith Gallery which has had years of planning and nowhere could be more fitting for a London Group regional exhibition. We look forward to bringing a show to St Ives that demonstrates the breadth and diversity of work that we as a group celebrate enthusiastically. The LG is proud that the Penwith Society’s illustrious founder member and benefactor was also a London Group member.”

The London Group and the Penwith Society of Artists were both founded due to dissatisfaction with existing art institutions. In the case of the Penwith Society many of its founder members had resigned from the St Ives Society of Artists whereas The London Group were reacting against the academicism of the Royal Academy.

"After rebellious beginnings,” says the Penwith Society’s Sue Davis. “Many of the artists who formed the initial artistic community in St Ives came originally from London and we have enjoyed a sense of common purpose and artistic ideals through the decades.”

The Belgrave St Ives Gallery, originally founded in London in 1974, celebrates its twentieth year in the Cornish town, renowned for its community of artists, light and artistic developments. The Belgrave St Ives Gallery specialises in Modern British and Contemporary Art with a particular emphasis on work by artists associated with Cornwall from the 1930s to the present time. Director of the Belgrave St Ives, Michael Gaca says, “I am delighted to be arranging an exhibition of work by earlier London Group members to complement the show of contemporary art by current members showing at the Penwith Gallery. It will be an exciting event to have both exhibitions running simultaneously in the small but art-focused town of St Ives. Our exhibition will include work by members with a strong St Ives association, for example Barbara Hepworth and Terry Frost. It will also present us with the opportunity to include many more names from the rich history of The London Group whose work has been included in exhibitions of Modern British Art at the Belgrave Gallery, London”.

With seventy five current LG members exhibiting at The London Group at St Ives, the Belgrave St Ives LG exhibition and , ‘Patrick Heron’ (elected LG in 1952) it will be possible to feel The London Group’s considerable and innovative contributions it has made and continues to make to British Art.

Cello Factory, London London Group archive at TATE

Notes to the Editors

The London Group at St Ives The Penwith Gallery, Back Road West, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 1NL Saturday 8 – Saturday 29 September 2018 An exhibition of 75 current London Group members including: painting, sculpture, and film.

Artists’ Talks on Saturday 8th September at 10.30 am at the Penwith Gallery Suzan Swale LG, Peter Morrell LG, Mark Dunford LG

‘The London Group - the St Ives Connection’. Belgrave St Ives, 22 Fore St, St Ives TR26 1HE Saturday 8 – Saturday 29 September 2018 An exhibition of historic London Group members and associates with Cornish connections works by: Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron, William Scott, Terry Frost, Victor Pasmore, Adrian Heath and more.

Works in both exhibitions will be for sale and admission to both exhibitions and artists’ talks is free.

London Group members exhibiting at the Penwith Gallery: Moich Abrahams, Mark Ainsworth, Wendy Anderson, Victoria Arney, Victoria Bartlett, Bryan Benge, Slawomir Blatton, Frank Bowling OBE RA, Clive Burton, Paul & Laura Carey, Ece Clarke, Robert Clarke, Peter Clossick, Tim Craven, John Crossley, Philip Crozier, Mark Dunford, Angela Eames, Anthony Eyton RA, James Faure Walker, Eric Fong, Cadi Froehlich, Marenka Gabeler, Genetic Moo, Tricia Gilman, Vaughan Grylls, Susan Haire, Julie Held, Bill Henderson, Aude Hérail Jäger, Martin Heron, Gillian Ingham, Sam Jarman, Annie Johns, Judith Jones, Matthew Kolakowski, Pauline Little, Amanda Loomes, Jeff Lowe, Graham Mileson, C. Morey de Morand, Peter Morrell, Charlotte C. Mortensson, Kathleen Mullaniff, Darren Nisbett, Eugene Palmer, Ian Parker, Claire Parish, Janet Patterson, Michael Phillipson, Chris Poulton, Daniel Preece, Alex Ramsay, Victoria Rance, David Redfern, Tom Scase, Tommy Seaward, David Shutt, Pilippa Stjernsward, Suzan Swale, Almuth Tebbenhoff, David Tebbs, Paul Tecklenberg, David Theobald, Mike Thorpe, Philippa Tunstill, Bill Watson, Neil Weerdmeester, Tisna Westerhof, Arthur Wilson, Susan Wilson, Erika Winstone, David Wiseman.

06/08/2018 The London Group at St Ives – Press Release / 8-29 September 2018

Brief History of The London Group

The London Group was formed by an amalgamation of the and the English Cubists (later Vorticists) in 1913. This grouping of radical young artists came together as a reaction to the stranglehold which the Royal Academy had on exhibiting new work. Founder members included Spencer Gore, , Sickert and Epstein.

The London Group decided on a written constitution and a number of officers to run the Group’s affairs. Members were to be elected to the Group based on a democratic election. A Working Party was set up to organize London Group exhibitions which were to revitalize contemporary visual art, bringing in new European developments in painting and sculpture, especially from France. Artists exhibited their own choice of work. The London Group made no judgmental decisions on members’ work, a tradition proudly defended to this day.

The beginning of the First World War and the early death of the first President, , were inauspicious moments for the new group, yet it survived and, in the Twenties, developed into a progressive and critically acclaimed venue for contemporary artists. Roger Fry and the Bloomsbury set were extremely influential in the Group during this decade.

The Thirties saw a greater diversity of activity. There was a healthy exchange between the more objective Cézanne salon and the Surrealists, for example. Again, the Group survived another World War, managing to mount exhibitions throughout the early Forties.

As Europe healed its wounds The London Group was to enter into a golden period in the 50’s and early 60’s. There were regular, affordable venues to hold annual exhibitions, large enough to offer space for every member to show more than one work and to invite non-members through open submission. The highlight of this period was The London Group Jubilee Exhibition held at the Tate Gallery in 1964.

In the 1970s The London Group became the major vehicle for young artists emerging from art school in the way the Young Contemporaries was for art students. It held major open exhibitions across London including the Royal College of Art, The South London Art Gallery and Camden Art Centre. The nature of contemporary visual art and its consumption began to change and diversify and this change was reflected in the membership and exhibition strategies of the Group. The last large ‘open show’ was launched by Lord Gowrie, the then Minister for the Arts, and was also The London Group’s 80th Anniversary Exhibition, held at the Concourse Gallery, Barbican in 1993. The 90th Anniversary Exhibition in Cork Street saw the launch of The London Group website and a commemorative yearbook published in 2003.

At present The London Group has more members than at any point in its history and continues to function without style or dogma, being the only democratically run group which survives into the 21st century. It has recently reintroduced the open submission exhibition and diversified into small group exhibitions for all its members.

David Redfern, LG Archivist. The Penwith Gallery

The Penwith Gallery is a stone’s throw from St Ives’ Porthmeor Beach and is a complex of historic buildings including the former pilchard-packing factory acquired in 1960 by the Society and converted into a gallery, with artists’ studios above. In 1972 an underground garage was added, with the help of Barbara Hepworth, and a new Charity was formed, the Penwith Galleries Ltd, which gained funding for the purchase and conversion. Today the Penwith Society still owns the Atrium and Studio Galleries, while Penwith Galleries Ltd owns the shop and the New Gallery and is responsible for the management of the entire complex – an arrangement which allows both to function together, creating a vibrant hub of exhibitions.

06/08/2018 The London Group at St Ives – Press Release / 8-29 September 2018

More information

http://www.thelondongroup.com/

http://www.belgravestives.co.uk/

http://www.penwithgallery.com/

ENDS

PHOTOGRAPHS: All are free to use – high res images available via: [email protected]

Press Contacts:

The London Group Gillian Ingham [email protected] 020 8769 1549 Mark Dunford [email protected]

The Belgrave St Ives Michael Gaca [email protected] +44 (0)1736 794888 The Penwith Society of Arts Sue Davis [email protected] 01326 314281 Penwith Galleries Ltd Jan Bright [email protected] 01736 795579

Belgrave St Ives

06/08/2018 The London Group at St Ives – Press Release / 8-29 September 2018